There has existed a need for a reliable method for conveying coins from an entry point or slot on the front of a vending machine to a coin counting and validation mechanism located within the machine. This is normally accomplished with a device such as a coin chute, which usually consist of two or more plastic parts, bolted inside the vending machine door. Coin chutes used for this specific purpose have two openings. The first is located next to the entry slot on the vending machine to receive coins inserted by a customer. The second aperture is at the discharge end of the coin chute which is normally located just above the entry point to an electromechanical coin sorting, counting and storing device, generally called a coin receptor. Thus, the primary responsibility of the coin chute is to reliably convey coins from their point of insertion at the coin receiving slot to the discharge end located adjacent to the coin receptor. In the past, there has not been any adjustment mechanism to adjust the discharge end of the coin chute to allow for any adjustment and direction of the coin as it is discharged from the coin chute.
Another problem has developed with respect to vandals pouring or injecting a liquid, commonly salt water, into the coin chute. Generally, this is done by squirting the salt water into the coin entrance slot or aperture of the vending machine. In the past, the salt water would run down the coin chute and drip into the coin receptor. The salt water causes the coin counting and credit mechanisms to short circuit and malfunction. Often, this results in the vending machine discharging the improper amount or all of the merchandise. At other times, the shorted electrical circuits may cause money within the receptor to be dispensed through the change or coin return mechanism. Furthermore, the salt water can cause the receptor to be destroyed resulting in expensive repairs to the vending machine. Vandals also have a practice of sliding a flexible tube connected to a squeeze bottle down the coin chute. In this case, the salt water is injected very close to the coin receptor and often past the point of any anti-fluid feature.
Thus, there is a need for a coin chute for vending machines which diverts liquid which is injected into the coin entrance slot such that the liquid is diverted harmlessly away from the coin receptor. Furthermore, there is a need to provide an adjustment mechanism at the discharge end of the coin chute to minimize the possibility of coin jams from the coins not being properly aligned when they are discharged from the coin chute into the coin receptor.
In the past, no coin chute has ever been devised which provides adjustability of the coin discharge portion of the coin chute. Previously, the coin chute had its discharge end set in a predetermined position which was supposed to be in alignment with the receiving portion of the coin receptor. The problem was addressed by merely providing a funnel mechanism at the receptor to receive coins from the discharge end of the coin chute. However, this was not a satisfactory solution to the problem as the coin discharge chute did not always discharge the coins in a proper manner into the funnel such that the coins were received by the receptor. Furthermore, due to manufacturing tolerances of the components of a vending machine, and the variances between vending machine manufacturers, the coin discharge chute did not normally line up in the exact proper orientation with respect to the receptor such that jams will not occur.
Unlike the lack of inventions directed to an adjustable coin discharge chute, the prior art has addressed the problem of liquid diverters for vending machines. The earliest design for keeping liquid from the receptor is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,213 entitled "Liquid Rejecting Coin Chute". This device used a very simple grate at the bottom of the coin chute to divert coins in one direction yet allow liquid to pass through the grate and be discharged into a trough. However, this device did not minimize splashing of the injected liquid if injected under pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,644 entitled "Coin Chute for Vending Machine" is similar to the '213 device in that the liquid is allowed to drop through a series of rib members which form an open bottom wall for the coin chute. The coins are deflected and the liquid passes through the ribs. Again, a shortcoming of this device is that it does not provide an effective means for draining away the fluid if it is injected under sufficient pressure.
Another liquid diverting device is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,798 entitled "Liquid Diverting Coin Hopper". In this device, the liquid flows along a first slanted surface which transports both liquids and coins. A second slanted surface traveling in the opposite direction from the first, diverts the coins toward the coin receptor yet has a plurality of openings which permit liquid to flow through the second slanted surface and into a liquid retaining compartment. This device does not provide for a means to control a liquid sprayed under any pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,937 entitled "Liquid Diverting Coin Chute" provides a plurality of openings along the front surface of the coin chute, which is the same surface on which the coins slide. This device assumes that the liquid will enter the coin chute at a low velocity such that it flows along the front surface of the chute. It does not provide for controlling liquid injected at a substantial pressure which, in fact, strikes the rear of the chute and doesn't flow gently along the front surface of the chute.
None of the devices which are designed for liquid diversion will protect the coin receptor from the problem of the vandal inserting a flexible hose or tube down the coin chute. By manipulating the flexible tube, it can be placed past the location of the liquid diverting device. The prior art devices have not addressed this problem.